Thompson Rivers University has snagged their first recruit for their Wolfpack swim team, signing a homegrown Kamloops swimmer for the upcoming Canada West/U SPORTS season (2019-20).
Jackson Litke will swim-suit up for the upcoming season under WolfPack head coach Brad Dalke.
The 6’2” swimmer is not unfamiliar with the WolfPack head coach, having been under the tenure of Dalke for the last four years while swimming in the Kamloops Classics swim program.
Litke will graduate this spring from St. Ann’s Academy in Kamloops and said staying close to home, with family, friends and a familiar coach, was a priority when making his decision on where to continue his swim career.
“A lot of my decision was based on the fact we have a great swim team here and Thompson Rivers University is close to home. I can get my feet established both academically and athletically by staying here,” says Litke who plans to study general sciences with a focus on sports medicine in the future.
Litke specializes in the 100-metre backstroke and butterfly, also dabbling in the 200m backstroke, and despite two swim and volleyball-related shoulder surgeries –– one in April 2017 and another in May 2018 –– he just narrowly missed qualifying for the the championships last year, says Dalke.
“Even with Jackson’s shoulder problems last year he was just missing qualifying for the Canadian junior championships –– the national championships for his age group. His times would have qualified him for this year’s Canada West Championship,” said Dalke.
Litke will be joining his friend Tanner Douglas, WolfPack junior and Classics teammate, on the squad, who was also one of the reasons he remained in Kamloops.
“It will be nice swimming again with him. There is a lot of positive aspects to being a part of this program. We are basically a family down there (referring to the Canada Games Aquatic Centre). We spend many hours over a lot of years training going through sweat and tears,” said Litke.
